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The dollar finished higher against the euro on Tuesday after official data showed U.S. sales of new homes surged in July.

The euro
EURUSD, -0.7347%
traded at $1.1306 late Tuesday, compared with $1.1320 late Monday.

Elsewhere, the U.S. currency was either slightly weaker, or flat, as investors continued to sit on their hands as they awaited a speech by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen that is expected to shed some light on the near-term plan for U.S. interest rates.

The ICE Dollar Index
DXY, +0.56%
which measures the greenback against a basket of rivals was flat at 94.5050 after finishing almost flat on Monday.

The U.S. currency lacked clear direction and traded in a tight range, as investors cautiously await Yellen’s speech at the central bank’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo, set to begin at 10 a.m. Eastern on Friday.

Against the yen, the dollar
USDJPY, +1.03%
was changing hands at ¥100.22 late Tuesday, compared with ¥100.33 late Monday in New York.

“The currency market remains highly skeptical of any Fed tightening and the greenback remains under pressure across the board,” said Boris Schlossberg, managing director of currency strategy at BK Asset Management.

“The solid report suggests that growth is likely to remain robust for the next few months, as service firms reported that new orders hit a four month high,” said Charalambos Pissouros, senior analyst with IronFX Global, in a note to clients.

“Even though the reaction in [euro] remained limited on the news, these [reports] imply that the [European Central Bank] may not rush to introduce further stimulus when it meets again in September,” Pissouros added.

Among other currency pairs, the pound
GBPUSD, -0.0556%
rose to $1.3193 late Tuesday, compared with $1.3136 late Monday in New York.

Kiwi rises

The New Zealand dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart Tuesday after Reserve Bank of New Zealand Gov. Graeme Wheeler said he doesn’t see a need for rapid monetary easing.

One kiwi
NZDUSD, -0.4461%
bought 73.02 U.S. cents late Tuesday, compared with 72.77 U.S. cents late Monday In New York. The kiwi has risen steadily so far this year even as New Zealand’s central bank has been cutting interest rates. Reducing interest rates typically causes a currency to weaken by decreasing the return on assets denominated in that currency.

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